


Ain't No Crying In The Club

by LizzyChain



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Senior High School, Angst, Awkward Flirting, Boys In Love, DJ Keith, F/M, Gay, Heavy Angst, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Kissing, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Mutual Pining, Rape, Rich Kid Lotor, Sexual Tension, Smut, Student Allura, Student Hunk, Student Lance, Student Lotor, Student Matt, Student Pidge/Katie, Student Shay, Student Shiro, Teacher Coran, Yaoi, student Keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2018-12-17 09:07:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11848410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizzyChain/pseuds/LizzyChain
Summary: Senior High School student Lance has a crush since forever on his classmate Keith but also on the DJ called 'Red' in his favourite club. Too bad he doesn't recognize, that both guys are the same person... While Keith is ignoring Lance in school, he's paying him even more attention outside, slowly taking a liking to him....Lotor, one of the richer kids at school, got dirgraced in public by Lance and since he holds a bargaining chip, which could end Lance's schooldays, he uses it to rape him...





	1. A bad Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An abstract about our little group of paladins

“Oh my god, I’m sorry for being late again!” Lance wheezed, bowing as he entered the classroom. A few girls were giggling, pointing to their necks. Lance realized how ridiculous he tied his cravat, blushing at the fact that his shirt was also inside out.

“Lance, if you keep being late, I’ll have to keep you here for detention.” The teacher warned.

“Yes ma’am, I’m truly sorry.” Lance apologised, walking to his table in silence. He looked to the left. It was usual for him to do so, since his classmate, Keith, was sitting there. It didn’t matter which time he arrived, Keith was always sleeping on his desk. He was one of the silent kids, always wearing a red and white college jacket, which he seemed to love. Lance secretly adored the quiet boy. Nobody ever told him why they avoided Keith but suggested Lance to stay away. “ _He’s always so sleepy, I wonder what he’s doing aside from school…_ ” Lance thought, blushing lightly as he gazed over. The teacher spoke louder, causing Keith to lift his head up drowsily. He was muttering incomprehensible things, probably cursing under his breath. “ _Oh my gosh, he’s too adorable!_ ” Lance thought, squealing on the inside. Keith gazed in Lance’s direction. He frowned at the staring from the other boy, glaring daggers at him. Lance averted his gaze, cursing on the inside. “ _Great, now he thinks I’m a fucking weirdo! Well done, Lance_.” He scolded himself.

 _“Damn him and his beautiful face, with that innocent smile and all… God, this guy_ …” Keith thought, trying to pay attention to the lessons. He knew for a while that Lance watched him from time to time, wondering for the reason. The bell rang, signalizing Keith that he had to go. Sometimes, he found copies of notes on his table when he came back. He found out that it was Lance who wrote them for him, surprising him a bit. He walked away from the cafeteria, as he saw one of the douches of his class, getting confessed to by a girl.

“You wrote a letter? Seriously, don’t waste my time.” He snorted, throwing it away.

“What an asshole.” Keith huffed.

“Hey, stop that! Is this how you treat a lady?! Read the goddamn letter! I bet it took her a lot of effort and courage to write her feelings down and you toss them away like nothing, that’s fucking rude!” a loud voice boomed through the halls, as a tanned fist hit the guy’s face. “If you don’t intend to give her a proper answer, then you aren’t worth her love!” Lance screamed, breathing heavily. The girl was crying, as Lance picked her letter up, slowly approaching her. “I’m sorry for messing with your time. I guess this is yours.” He said, returning the letter slowly.

“I-It’s f-fine… I d-don’t need t-this anymore…” she sniffed, bawling her eyes out. She seemed prideful, yet deeply hurt by the guy, too deep to hide it.

Lance took a step forward, wrapping his arms around her. “Come on, we’ll go somewhere else.” he whispered, taking her with him. _Poor thing, getting treated like this even though she had the courage, that’s not fair…_

Keith was shocked. He didn’t saw that reaction coming, nor the loving behaviour from Lance. The guy was about to stand up, utterly confused that he got hit. By the time he was aware of the happening, Lance had already vanished with the girl.

\---

Lance comforted her in the back of the yard, listening to everything she felt. “Thank you, Lance. I’m sorry for crying so long.” she said, her eyes still puffy. _He must thing I’m weird, crying in front of a unknown guy…_

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. I bet you’ll find a guy, who’s a lot better than him, you deserve more than that.” Lance smiled. _She really does. A nice and by heart good girl like her should be treated like a princess._

“You really are a nice guy. Your girlfriend must be proud to have you.” she sniffed.

“Well, I feel honoured but I don’t have a girlfriend anymore, we broke up.” Lance said, scratching his neck.

“What? Why would a girl break up with you?!” she asked in shock. _She must be dumb!_

“I saw her cheating on me and when I asked her about it, she broke up with me.” Lance replied unsure, scratching his neck awkwardly. Two people were approaching them, both having worried looks on their faces.

“Allura, are you okay?!” a guy asked, hugging her tightly.

“Matt, you’ll kill her with that steel grip.” a girl sighed. _Why must he be such a drama queen?_

“Not everyone is such a cold savage like you, Katie.” Matt grumbled. _This girl, unbelievable…_

“Yeah, yeah, however, who is this guy? The one you confessed to? I thought he looked a bit different, though.” Katie asked, scanning Lance with suspicion. _That isn’t him, right? I thought her crush was the bitchy one…_

“No Katie, this is Lance. He beat up Lotor for my sake.” Allura said with a smile and explained what had happened.

“I told you this guy isn’t worth it. Well, I guess we’ll get along, Lance.” Katie said with a smile, nudging him lightly. _I love him already! I should tell my partner in crime about him, I bet he’d like Lance…_

“If I could ever help you in some way, tell me. I’ll be there.” Allura giggled happily.

“Uhm, well, I don’t know what to say but would you maybe listen to me? I don’t really know with who I should talk about this.” Lance asked shyly. _It’s not wrong to ask a girl about something like that, right?_

“Sure! Spill it!” Allura said excitedly.

“You’re gay for a cute guy.” Katie deadpanned, earning a gasp from Lance. “Don’t tell me this is what you wanted to say… Dude, you’re too obvious.” she laughed.

“How?!” Lance asked with a blush. _I never even mentioned a guy! This girl is creepy!_

“Well, I’m good at guessing things like that. However, what is on your mind?” Katie asked him. _I feel like I had this talk just two hours ago, must be the day for gay feels…_

Wait, what? But he had a girlfriend.” Allura interrupted confused. _So, he swings both ways?_

“It’s called being bi, Allura. He’s the same as Katie.” Matt laughed.

“Are you? Or is it perhaps just this one guy you’re gay for?” Allura wondered, directing her gaze at Lance. _He doesn’t look and act like he’s into boys but his heart is pounding for one… Must be true love…_

“Uhm, I don’t really know. I think it’s just him.” Lance sighed. “Well, that person is the one I like… pretty much, to be honest. It’s just, I think he doesn’t like me back, he recently even glared at me… I feel a bit sad to see him care so little about me.” Lance sighed, feeling tears bubbling up his eyes. _I wish he’d like me at least…_

“This guy you’re talking about, I’m sure he’ll come around. You just gotta hang in there.” Allura said, patting his back. _That guy must be stupid to let him down…_

“You think so?” he asked, his face resembling a puppy. _Does she mean it?_

“Yeah.” “Sure!” Katie and Matt approved.

“Of course, you’re a catch! You’re smart and funny and handsome and the nicest person I’ve ever met! Don’t be afraid to tell him how you feel.” Allura sniffed with a smile. _Go and get him!_

“I swear to god, when I find whoever made this boy feel like shit, I’m going to strangle him.” Katie spat out.

“You guys are great but this Katie girl, is she okay?” Lance asked a bit concerned as he watched the seething woman.

“Yeah, she’s just very vengeful.” Allura giggled. _Just for her friends, though. That means, she likes Lance already and that’s great!_

“Lance?!” a male voice asked, sounding rather worried. _There he is!_

“Hunk!” Lance replied happily. _Oh shoot, I totally forgot about him!_

“Where you’ve been?! I’m searching you since the beginning of our break! You suddenly disappeared! I was concerned!” Hunk nagged. _I’m going to worry myself to death…_

“Guys, this is Hunk, my food-loving best friend.” Lance snorted, introducing Hunk proudly.

“Hey, we are in the same chemistry course, aren’t we?” Matt asked in amusement. _This guy is cool and if Lance is his friend, I bet Lance is nice as well._

“Yeah, I think I remember you! Matt, wasn’t it?” Hunk said, smiling fondly. They talked a bit, until the bell rang loudly.

“Well, see you later, guys!” Lance called, waving them goodbye. He and Hunk parted on their way to the classes. Lance was in class A, while Katie, Matt and Allura were in B. Hunk was in C and luckily for Allura, Lotor was in class D.

As Lance came closer to the classroom, he nearly chocked on his breath. He saw Keith with a pretty hot guy, both standing a bit too close to be just friends.

“See you later!” the good-looking male laughed, ruffling through Keith’s hair.

Lance heart broke at the sight. Once, he had tried to remove a leaf from Keith’s hairs but was pushed away violently. He felt his poor heart shatter even more, as he saw his crush flushing, a soft smile flashing over his face.

Lance entered the classroom, not wasting a single glance into Keith’s direction. The teacher came, starting the mathematic lesson.

“The answer is twelve.” Lance said, getting an approving look from the teacher. _So, he already has someone? Great, now my heart got broken twice..._

Keith on the other hand, seemed worried. “ _Is something wrong with him? He stopped staring so suddenly… Was I imagining things? Come on, Lance… Turn your pretty face towards me…”_ Keith thought, impatiently staring at the tanned teen.

Despite Keith’s staring, the other male refused to look Keith’s way, hurrying out of the room, with the excuse he had to use the toilet. Lance went to the washroom, ignoring the tears running down his cheeks.

“Hey!” a loud voice boomed, pushing Lance violently into one of the stalls. _Finally, I got him!_

“Back off!” Lance hissed, recognising the guy from before. _Wrong timing!_

“Shut up and watch.” he demanded. Lance saw a video on the screen of a phone, gasping as he saw what was on it. “Cheating your way through the entrance exam, pretty smart. Would be a shame if someone found out about this, right?” he chuckled.

“How do you got this?!” Lance snarled. _Shit, I didn’t know someone saw that!_

“A friend of mine was filming in class and happened to catch you cheating. He recorded it and send it to me as a joke but since you misbehaved so badly, I think I could use it.” he smirked. _You’ll pay for handling me like shit._

“What do you want, Lotor?” Lance asked, feeling simply stressed out. _God, can this day get any worse?!_

“You’ll pay for making a fool out of me, pretty boy.” Lotor grinned. _And I’ll make good use of you…_

“Pay? As if you don’t get your ass stuffed with enough money already!” Lance laughed bitterly. _Come on, you’re making a fool out of yourself!_

“Oh, I don’t want money, you’ll pay with your body.” Lotor chuckled, using his height to dominate Lance. _And I want it now…_

“W-What?!” Lance gasped, crashing into the wall behind him. _No, this must be a joke! A sick joke!_

“You understood me very well, Lance. You’ll use your pretty ass to please me, or I’ll show the principal this little proof of your worthless self. You know, I like it more to stuff asses than to get filled.” Lotor laughed, a crazy expression on his face. _Despair already!_

“You can’t be serious!” Lance screamed, trying to push Lotor back. _No, I don’t want this!_

“Oh dear, I fear I’m not joking. And now, strip and suck.” Lotor growled and pushed the tanned teen on his knees. Lance trembles as Lotor ripped his clothes off, shoving his dick violently into Lance’s mouth. Lance cried, chocking on the forced length in his mouth. “Why don’t you impress me with a little show? How do you do it yourself? Why don’t you show me, hm?” Lotor grinned, a psychotic smile on his face. Lance glared hatefully at him, sobbing helplessly. Begrudgingly, he opened his jeans, fumbling his more than soft dick out. Lotor raised an eyebrow, laughing as the teen started to pump his own dick with shaky hands, tears streaming down his face. “Seems like you’re not arousing enough, start moaning a bit. I’m sure it’ll turn me on.” Lotor demanded with a playful tone, gripping Lance’s hair forcefully. It was more of a grunting that Lance did but it seems to be enough for Lotor. “Good boy and now come here.” he said, turning Lance around.

“N-No! P-Please!” Lance screamed, crying out hoarsely, as Lotor entered him. The rich teen didn’t even bother to prepare the poor boy. Lance didn’t know how much time passed, until Lotor came, letting Lance carelessly crash into the floor. _I hate it… I hate it! I want to fucking die!_

Lotor wasn’t even impressed at the hateful and hurt gaze he got. “Stop staring at me like this, or I’ll jump at you again. Get used to it, little whore.” Lotor said, blinding Lance with the flashlight of his camera. “Now I have two things I could show around, you better behave.” he smirked, waving him goodbye. _Victory tastes so sweet~_

Lance was left on the cold and dirty floor, his tears streaming endlessly. “T-This is t-the w-worst.” he sobbed, hissing at the stinging pain in his ass. “Shit.” Lance hissed, as he saw blood dripping on the floor. “I wanna die.” he cried, as the guy he had seen with Keith entered the bathroom. Lance glared at him, waiting for a look of disgust but instead, he got a concerned face.

“Oh my god, are you okay?! What happened?!” he asked, immediately kneeling down. Carefully, he reached for Lance, waiting for a reaction. _This guy is going into Keith’s class, isn’t he?_

“Don’t touch me, you’ll get dirty.” Lance sobbed. _Great, why it has to be him?! I curse this world!_

“When I look at you, there are a thousand things that concern me more than getting dirty.” he smiled, watching Lance’s in vain tries to get up. “I’m Shiro. May I ask for your name?” he added after a while.

“Lance.” the other replied shortly.

“Jeez, you really are like my little brother.” Shiro laughed, gently pulling Lance closer. “Do you want to talk about what happened? Shall I call a friend of yours?” he asked, eyeing the Lance closely. _This… I’m pretty sure he wasn’t fooling around… This looks like… god, I don’t even want to say it…_

“N-No!” Lance screamed, tears streaming down his face again.

Shiro stripped his jacket off, covering the exposed parts of Lance. As the doors opened and another rich student came in, Shiro pressed Lance’s face to his chest, hiding his face. “Get lost!” he hissed in a dominant voice, making the rich teen back off immediately.

“T-Thanks.” Lance sobbed, clinging close to the stronger male. I get why Keith likes him. _He’s strong and protective… Not like me… He wouldn’t get raped easily…_

“Uhm, Lance… I know I have no right to interfere with your private life but were you raped just now?” Shiro asked, gently patting the boy’s head. Lance nodded softly, trembling violently at the memory. He wasn’t trusting his voice and didn’t dared to look into Shiro’s eyes. “Do you know who it was?” Shiro continued, carefully lifting the boy up to the sink.

Lance nodded again, pain written on his face. “Yes.” he whimpered. _And I’m cursing this person’s birth!_

Shiro made a paper towel wet, offering it Lance to clean himself. “I’m a student from the medical team at our school. It must sound disgusting to hear something like this after getting raped but do you want me to take a look at it?” Shiro asked unsure.

“N-No!” Lance shook his head violently.

“Look, I know you feel shameful but there is no need to, you know? This person should be the one feeling shame. I saw that you’re bleeding and you should make sure it’s nothing serious.” Shiro sighed, cupping his cheek lightly. _If I get the guy who hurt him, things will get ugly…_

“You surely won’t touch me in a weird way?” Lance sobbed. _God, am I actually allowing a guy to examine my butt after getting fucked in the butt by another guy?! Am I insane?!_

“Well, it might feel weird since I’ll… must take a look inside, you know? Maybe you should clean yourself and call me afterwards. I’ll look where the bleeding is coming from and then you can go back, okay? I’ll make sure no one enters, so take your time.” Shiro said, closing the bathroom door from the outside. _If he is the guy Keith mentioned, the one who’s watching him constantly, I’m glad that I’ve found him. If Keith saw him like this… He would go insane…_

Lance started to clean himself up, sobbing from time to time. He felt horrible. “No wonder Keith likes him, this guy is an angel.” Lance mumbled, staring at his beaten reflection. After a while, he softly opened the door, peeking out.

“Are you alright?” Shiro asked.

“Y-Yeah… I h-have finished.” Lance announced shyly. _Okay here it comes…_

Shiro nodded, entering again. Carefully, he bend Lance over the sink, examining his butt. “I think your sphincter is somehow damaged. You should probably go and see a doctor. Also, I’d recommend you to call the police. Rape isn’t something that should be taken lightly.” Shiro decided, helping Lance to get dressed properly. He hugged Lance tightly, sighing. “And you really don’t want to tell me who touched you like this? If you fear them, I’ll protect you.” Shiro assured him.

“Uhm, well… It was a guy from my year.” Lance confessed.

“So basically, it could’ve been anyone from our classmates? That’s even more horrible.” Shiro said, his voice stern and angry. _I have no words…_

Lance knew, that Shiro wasn’t angry at him. Shiro’s hate was directed against Lance’s rapist. “Lotor.” Lance breathed quietly.

“What?!” Shiro asked, looking deep into Lance’s eyes. _This fucking asshole!_

“Uhm… nothing…” Lance laughed in panic. _Urgh, I hope he didn’t understand the name…_

“No, I understood you very well. I just can’t believe that this sassy child went so far… Lance, we need to talk to our principal, I’m sure Coran will understand.” Shiro said, dragging Lance along. _This has to end before it starts!_

“N-No! Please not!” Lance cried. _I’m done for if Lotor gets wind of this, I’m dead!_

“Lance, I know you feel ugly, but being raped isn’t something trivial or some joke, that’s serious abuse of human rights.” Shiro stated. _Please, let me help you…_

“I-I know b-but… Lotor is holding something over my head!” Lance winced. _Just drop it, Shiro!_

“Did you do something illegal?” Shiro asked, softening his expression.

“W-Well, yes… I have problems with exams… I get so nervous I forget everything and well… the entrance exam, I cheated and he has a video as proof. A-Also he made a p-picture after r-raping me. He’ll send it around, if I rat him out!” Lance cried, starring helplessly at Shiro. _He must think I’m pathetic…_

“Lance.” Shiro said, hugging him again. “Listen, I’ll help you, no matter what, okay? We will go to Coran and tell him what you’ve done. Then we’ll explain your fear for exams and will ask him to let you repeat it. I’ll study with you, so you’ll pass the exam and can stay on this school, okay? Everything will be alright, okay? You are not alone.” Shiro assured him, rubbing circles on his back. _I can’t let something like this slip easily…_

“Why are you so nice to me? I don’t understand.” Lance spoke softly.

“You remind me of my little brother and rape is something I just can’t tolerate. I feel responsible for you. You know, my little brother, he was assaulted as well. He had the same look as you in his eyes. Since that incident, he isn’t smiling very often and his grades are dropping. I know what this shit is doing with people and I won’t let it happen a second time, even if you aren’t my brother, I want to save you.” Shiro explained. _It’s my duty to help him… I witnessed his most unstable point and without comfort, this state can let you despair… I wish I had recognized it earlier with my brother…_

“You are such an honourable person.” Lance sobbed. _I can’t compete with that… Next to Shiro, my existence seems small, so unnecessary…_

“Thank you, Lance. Let’s go, you’ll be late. I’ll wait in front of the gates after school. We can discuss the details then. Also, I’ll keep an eye on Lotor, he’s my classmate. I won’t let him come near you.” Shiro calmed Lance, taking his hand as he brought him to his classroom.

“Come in.” Coran said, sighing as he saw Lance. “May I ask how you manage to be late, even without this being your first lesson?” he asked, already tired of it. _Seriously… McClain is a smart guy but this habit is pissing me off…_

“Excuse me, Coran. It was me who held him up. I apologize.” Shiro said with a polite smile.

Keith’s head bounced up, as he heard Shiro’s voice. He felt rather irritated at the sight of Shiro holding Lance’s hand tightly. When Lance caught his eyes, he gasped in shook. The tanned teen looked horrible, his eyes puffy and his face tired. “ _What in heavens name happened to him?! And what the hell has Shiro to do with him?!_ ” Keith asked himself, his sleepy head turning into a rollercoaster.

“You? I’m honestly surprised, Shiro. Could you tell me the reason?” Coran asked, crossing his arms.

“We will explain it in the next break, right Lance?” Shiro said, nudging him with an encouraging expression on his face. _Don’t worry, everything will be fine…_

“Don’t beat around the bush, is it something urgent?” Coran asked, getting worried. _Something is off…_

“It’s something serious, to say at least this much. Please, I’d prefer to discuss this term discreet.” Shiro said, flashing Keith a knowing look.

Keith sat up a bit more, dismayed staring at Lance. “ _No way… Don’t tell me Lance was… oh my god_ …” Keith thought, his vision getting blurry from tears.

“As you wish. Please see me after the lesson in my directorate.” Coran agreed.

“Thanks.” Lance said with a cracked voice, silently sitting down. Keith noticed the slight hiss Lance made, while he sat down. Keith said nothing, watching the other the whole lesson. As the bell rang, Keith stood up, stopping beside Lance’s table.

“What?” Lance asked, gasping as he saw the person was Keith. _He’s talking to me?!_

“Notes. I took them for you.” Keith replied curtly, dropping them on Lance’s desk.

“Uhm, thank you?” Lance said, seemingly surprised. _He did that? For which reason?_

“Don’t act so surprised, you’re always taking notes for me as well, right?” Keith smirked, laughing lightly as the other blushed. _Aw, he thought he’s totally secretive!_

“You knew?” Lance asked, hiding his face in embarrassment. _This is the worst! He must think I’m a stalker or something!_

“It was obvious, honestly. It’s not like some other guy has your handwriting. I’m sorry for mine though, I hope you can read it.” Keith said and scratched his neck. _Conversing with him is a lot easier than I imagined…_

“Yeah, they are good.” Lance smiled, getting a smile back. _My first notes I got from my crush… They are about school, though but it’s nevertheless nice to have them…_

“Woah, the creep can smile!” one of the girls screeched.

“He is no creep!” Lance spat angrily. _Seriously?! Why do they have to destroy his mood now?!_

“Get lost.” Keith hissed, shooting her a death glare. “Wait, did you just defend me?” Keith snorted, turning towards the other. _I should talk more often to him, even in school he’s acting cute…_

“Uhm, I guess?” Lance laughed awkwardly. _Hello, everybody! My name is Mr. Obvious McClain!_

“You really are something, McClain.” Keith said, shaking his head. “If it’s okay, may I ask you a question?” Keith added after a while.

“Yeah, sure.” Lance allowed. _God, he’s so cute! If my ass wouldn’t hurt like hell, I could appreciate it even more…_

“About Shiro, did something happen to him?” Keith asked.

“No, why do you think so?” Lance asked, hiding the disappointment in his voice. _Sure, he just talked to me because of Shiro, how could I expect anything else? Stupid me…_

“The way he came her made me a bit worried. You know, my brother is normally not the type who acts so close with random people, or is skipping classes, so I thought that maybe-“, Keith began but was interrupted by an: “Wait a sec, are you telling me that Shiro is your brother?!”, by Lance.

“…Yes?”, Keith replied, rising an eyebrow. _Everyone knows that, though…_

“Are you his only sibling?” Lance asked. _If he is, then Shiro talked about… Keith! Keith got raped?! He is so grumpy because of that?! And my dumb ass thought he’s just edgy as fuck… Stupid me…_

“Yeah, why? You are confusing.” Keith said. _Is he okay?_

“…Let’s be friends.” Lance said simply, hugging Keith out of nowhere. _I still have a chance! Keith has no lover!_

“Wow, hold on. If you’re one of these guys who is totally into Shiro and tries to befriend me for that reason, I must disappoint you. I’m sick of that shit.” Keith said pushing Lance slightly away. _And another guy who has a crush on Shiro…_

“What? There were people like that?” Lance gasped. _That’s… cruel… I guess he isn’t the person he is without a reason…_

“So, you say you’re different?” Keith asked. _I’d like to believe that…_

“Yes, I am. I uhm… I thought Shiro was your boyfriend, so I didn’t dare to talk to you earlier.” Lance admitted shyly.

“You sure are a dense little shit, aren’t you?” Keith snorted, laughing loudly. _This is just too cute, I can’t!_

“If this is the highest effort you make to get along with me, I pity myself.” Lance sighed. “I should introduce you to Katie, I bet you’d get along greatly.” he added. _These two could be the savage duo…_

“Katie? Like Katie Holt, the sister of Matt?” Keith grinned. _Too late, I know my partner in crime already~_

“You know them?!” Lance asked surprised. _Wow, that’s unexpected._

“Yeah, Matt and Shiro are best buddies, so are Katie and me.” Keith chuckled. _When was the last time I talked so much with someone?_

“Great, the two savages are already best friends.” Lance sighed.

“You know what? I think you are a nice guy. Let’s try to be friends.” Keith smiled, patting Lance’s shoulder, before he disappeared. _Maybe you’ll convince me…_

In the same moment, Shiro called out for Lance, smirking as he saw them interacting. “Oh, looks like my little bro still does know how to smile.” Shiro snickered. _I’m glad they get along… As sad as the occasion is, I’m happy they started talking…_

“Just go away.” Keith groaned.

“See, Lance? I told you the both of you are similar.” Shiro laughed. “You even have the same death glare.” he added chuckling. _Maybe these two will develop a thing for each other? I must admit that Lance is pretty red, is he maybe already into Keith? That would be great! I’ll have to investigate that case further…._

“What?” Keith asked disturbed. “You can glare?” he directed at Lance. _This little ray of sunshine can glare?_

“Of course.” Lance snorted, standing up. “Well, thanks for the notes, Keith. I’ll get going.” he announced, following Shiro out of the room. _Keith… at least one god thing happened today…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I most likely have too many stories, which could probably lead to irregular update times... but I have sooo many ideas and a lot of inspiration at the moment \^_^/
> 
> I hope you like it! 
> 
> Ps.: I hope it's getting visible in the chapter but rape is a serious crime that shouldn't be taken lightly.


	2. Reality is cruel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fate can be cruel and Lance get's another taste of it...

“Shiro, I’m scared. What if Coran doesn’t believe me? Or if he isn’t able to do anything? What if Lotor gets wind of this and is sending the picture around? I don’t want rumours about me being a slut to start.” Lance sobbed. _God, I don’t even want to think about it!_

“What do you think is worse, people telling others that you are a slut or Lotor making you into his slut?” Shiro said, silencing Lance. “I understand how you feel but believe me, we will be able to help you, I promise.” he added. _I wonder what Keith would say, if he knew… I made it pretty obvious for him to understand but I’m still not sure… He must understand Lance’s feelings the best…_

Lance and Shiro entered Coran’s office, the Spanish boy getting increasingly nervous. “So, what is the reason that two totally different guys like you demand an audience by me?” Coran asked, his eyes fixated on Lance. It was visible that Coran had a bad feeling about the permitted audience.

“Well, there was an incident, which I thought you should know of. I became witness of an assault; which Lance was the victim of.” Shiro started. _Okay, here we go…_

“That’s indeed a serious matter. Please explain, what happened.” Coran said, pointing to the chairs in front of his desk. Shiro and Lance sat down, Shiro starting to describe, what happened to Lance. Coran was seemingly shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. “No worries, I’ll make personally sure, that incidents like these won’t happen again.” Coran said, leaving his room. _These rich teens can prepare for a punishment, worse than in their most feared nightmares…_

“Uhm, Shiro? Are you sure telling him was a good idea?” Lance asked, extremely nervous. _What if this was a mistake?! Fuck, what if I fucked up?!_

“Lance, you did nothing wrong. Stop worrying.” Shiro tried to calm him.

“B-But I think Lotor did it, because I punched him in front of everyone. He was bitchy towards a girl, which had the courage to tell him how she feels and I just tried to help her! If I had known that he would react like that, I would’ve only yelled at him.” Lance sobbed. _Shit, have I even told him about what happened before? Damn, why am I never thinking, before I do something? My ass does hurt though…_

“It’s okay, Lance. You did nothing wrong. Everything will be fine, believe me.” Shiro appealed to him.

A few minutes later, Coran came back, three phones in his hands. One belonged to the guy, who had filmed Lance, the second one was Lotor’s and the third belonged to a friend of Lotor, which always had contact with everything Lotor did. Coran opened the messages, searching through the contacts, who had received the horrible picture of Lotor’s act. To Lance’s advantage, just two of the phones had evidence on them, which Coran deleted personally. “I’ll ignore this little video and will go straight to the point. I’ll have a nice and intensive talk with Lotor and his gang. Also, I’ll have a talk with his parents, since they are old acquaintances of  mine. Believe me, he’ll get consequences and won’t come near you again. I’ll make personally sure, that he will get thrown out of our facilities as well. I won’t accept any behaviour like this in my school.” Coran assured Lance, an angry look glittering in his eyes.

“T-Thanks.” Lance said, his voice very shaky. _I can’t believe it… this was it? They will be gone for good and I won’t have to repeat the entrance exam?! Shiro is like a charm, truly amazing… I never guessed that principal Coran would be this nice…_

“You should thank Shiro instead. I bet that without his encouraging behaviour, you wouldn’t have considered talking to me about this serious matter. Be grateful to have someone as strong as him to help you with this important term.” Coran replied and let them go. _I don’t want to think about what would’ve happened, if he didn’t find Lance…_

“Thank you, Shiro. Despite not knowing me, you helped me and took care. I don’t know how I should thank you.” Lance said in the hallways, blushing lightly. _If this guy wasn’t Keith’s brother, he’d surely be his boyfriend… Nobody would let a guy like him go off the hook…_

“No need to do so, Lance. I did what I had to do.” Shiro replied with a smile. _And I’m glad you cooperated with me…_

“That statement has a very military touch.” Lance stated. _Well, he does give off the vibes of a soldier, in some way…_

“Well, I have my principles. When I think about it, there is a thing you could actually do for me. Please, get along with Keith. He… He is sometimes a bit hard to handle but I can guarantee that he’s not a bad person. He didn’t converse with anybody until you spoke with him. I can tell he feels at ease when he’s talking to you and that’s a privilege, which he can’t enjoy often. If it isn’t too much to ask of you, this would be my wish.” Shiro said.

Lance smiled, a soft gaze directed to his classroom, where Keith was walking out. “Yeah, I think this won’t be a problem.” Lance whispered, as Keith came to them. _I’ll do that gladly…_

“Laaancce!” a loud voice squealed.

Lance wasn’t even able to turn around, as Allura jumped on his back. He contained the hiss of the stinging pain in his ass and smiled instead. “Hey, Allura, you seem very lively.” Lance chuckled.

“Well, Matt said it would be very funny to jump on peoples’ backs, so I thought I’d give it a try.” she smiled sheepishly. _And he was so right, this is fun!_

“And? Is it fun?” Lance snorted, as his other friends arrived. _And here I thought Matt was a bit more adult, like Shiro… I guess them being best friends doesn’t mean they are similar…_

“I guess you could say so.” Allura laughed, her gaze landing on Shiro. _Oh my god… Who is this…?!_

“Wow, you can literally see how they get a crush on each other.” Lance whispered to the back, getting a fist bump from Katie and a snort from Matt. _You guys can’t deny it, though._

“I think it’s cute.” Hunk giggled, getting an eyebrow raise from Katie.

“I guess why, you have the same thing with this Shay girl, right?” Katie mused, causing the male to blush. _Seems like I found the weak spot, huh?_

Lance turned around, wide eyes staring at his friend. “Excuse me? Why does the gremlin know about your love life and I don’t? Hunk buddy, did you just break our bro-codex?” Lance gasped, clutching his chest dramatically. _Oh my god, Hunk’s first crush! This is so pure, I bet the girl is a ray of sunshine as well!_

“No! Lance, that’s a thing she reasoned! It’s not like I told her!” Hunk said, his eyes filled with panic. _Why had Katie to bring up Shay, now I’ll be teased till forever…_

“But you don’t deny your crush on her.” Matt reminded him, which made Hunk blush even more. _Aww, the big softie is in love~_

Keith was eyeing the situation from the side. He was impressed, how carefree Lance was acting. He tried to walk away quietly, as Katie grabbed his arm, turning the tanned teen around as well. “Keith, this is Lance, he’s great! He slapped Allura’s asshole-crush for his arrogant behaviour, you’ll get along perfectly. And Lance, this is Keith, he’s grumpy but a softie on the inside.” Katie introduced them proudly.

“Uhm, Pidge, dude? He’s in my class, literally sitting next to me. I know who the fuck he is.” Keith snorted. _This is the first time she actually is stupid, despite being a smart little shit all the time…_

“What?! How can you two know each other just like that?! Why didn’t you introduce this little savage to me?!” Katie gasped, kicking Lance’s shin. _These idiots, I can already smell the romance between them…_

“Ow, why are you kicking me now?! And what is a Pidge?!” Lance groaned. _This girl is fucking erratic!_

Keith seemed alarmed, since he knew somehow about Lance’s state but refused to take act. “Well, we never talked, so there was no reason.” Keith sighed. _He should think of a good excuse, since he can’t act like everything’s fine forever._

“I kicked you, because you called me a gremlin, I didn’t miss that. Secondly, Pidge is my nickname and third, Keith… you are dumb.” Katie said, grinning cockily.

“Okay, wait, we can discuss that later, I have to ask Hunk more about his betrayal.” Lance said, attempting to turn around.

“Chill, boy, I just observed that he could have a crush on her or already has.” Katie reminded him, letting go of Lance’s arm. _I’m not wrong, though._

“Shiro, I’m glad you two get along but would you mind stopping to stare at that girl and would consider driving me home, so I won’t be late for work?” Keith sighed, something apologising in his look. _Good, he’s so into her!_

“Huh? Oh, yes, sure! Well uhm, see you around, Allura.” Shiro said, lightly blushing. _What a pretty woman…_

“Yes, that would be great.” Allura agreed with a giggle. _This guy…_

“Oh my god, the crush hit you so hard, it’s even suffocating for me.” Matt said, a smirk remaining on his face.

Lance ran off, following the brothers to the parking places. “Shiro, wait!” Lance panted, writing something on a small paper. “Here, take this. It’s Allura’s number. I know, you said there is nothing I could do for you but I hope you accept it. Besides, I’ll still keep my promise, don’t worry. See you, Shiro! And you as well, Keith!” Lance called, running off as fast as he had arrived.

“How did he get that number?” Shiro asked after a while.

“Because this Allura girl is a friend of his? I don’t understand why you don’t have it yet, though. I saw Matt in her group of friends, so normally, as your best friend, he should’ve given you the number decades ago.” Keith snorted, taking a seat in the car.

“Yeah, you are right. I’ll talk to him later.” Shiro mumbled, stuffing the small paper in his pocket. “Please write Lance thanks from me.” he added, getting a confused look from his brother.

“Why do you think I have his number?” Keith asked.

“Why shouldn’t you? Don’t the both of you sit next to each other?” Shiro asked, more irritated than Keith.

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean I have his number, we never talked until today.” Keith defended himself.

“But I thought he was the guy that always leaves notes on your desk? Did you never actually thank him for that?!” Shiro gasped. _I don’t know if I should sign or be actually offended…_

“He thought he was secretive, so I didn’t. I told him today that I know, though.” Keith replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“You know, sometimes, you’re a terrible dense kid.” Shiro sighed and laughed.

“Whatever.” Keith replied, turning the volume of the music up, as his brother left the school grounds.

\---

“So, Lotor who?” Katie asked, laughing as Allura wasn’t even denying it.

“This guy, Shiro, he is Keith’s brother? Good looks seem to run the family.” Allura chuckled. _And especially these god-like features…_

“Yeah, even their parents are pretty.” Matt sighed. _And then there is me, a regular guy who is like invisible next to Shiro…_

“Don’t worry, you’ll hear from him pretty soon.” Lance smiled, wiggling his eyebrows, as he arrived back.

“Why do you think so?” Allura asked curiously.

“Okay, first, he likes you, second, I gave him your number and third, because it’s obvious.” Lance grinned.

“You did what?!” Allura screeched.

“Calm down, he seemed happy. Besides, I don’t know Shiro for long but I can tell that he’s the nicest person possibly existing on planet earth. So, don’t worry, you two would be a good match.” Lance told her. _At least I can guarantee, that he won’t hurt her… He was so nice to me, a stranger, I bet he treats his lover like a princess… Allura would deserve it…_

“I know him since we were kids and I can only agree with Lance. If someone treats people right, then it’s Shiro.” Matt agreed.

Lance looked on his watch and gasped. “Oh shit, guys, I have to head home! Being late on the first time of your part-time job isn’t that great!” Lance said hastily, waving his friends goodbye, as he ran off. _I’ll have to write Hunk and ask about that Shay girl, though._

\---

Lance arrived in a small shop, where a guy asked him to come in. He gave Lance a shirt for work and wrote a nameplate for him. He also gave him a few papers about the rules, break times, his pay and other stuff. He also got a cutter and gloves.

“Well then, I should probably introduce ma’ self properly! Ma name is Joe and I’ll show ya around.” the manager of the small grocery said.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Lance.” Lance introduced himself. _Is it me, or does he actually has a pretty heavy accent?_

“Don’t be so stiff, little fella, I won’t bite ya. I’ll show ya around and then a good guy of ma store will take care of you.” Joe laughed and patted his back with a sympathising smile.

Lance nodded with a smile, allowing Joe to show him the store. “The computer things will ma staff show ya, I’m bad with technology.” Joe said, searching for the person he wanted to show Lance the ropes. “There ya are, this fella is your new assistant, be good to him.” Joe spoke to the person in front of him.

“K-Keith?!” Lance chocked. _From all people, I have to work with Keith?! Okay, I’m either cursed or blessed…_

“Lance?” Keith asked surprised. _Wow, I don’t saw that coming…_

“Oh, so ya two know each other? That’s great, then it might be easier for ya to learn the important stuff, if Keith is supervising ya.” Joe spoke satisfied, leaving the two boys alone.

“Well… I’m in your care then, I guess…” Lance sighed, a slight blush on his face. _Oh my god, this is awkward!_

“Uhm, yeah, I guess. Come with me, I’ll explain the programmes on the Laptop to you, since I guess Joe didn’t.” Keith said with a sigh. _How am I supposed to act towards him? Differently than in school? Or would he be confused? He’ll see me being nice with the customers as well, so maybe I should?  Hmm, hard choice…_

“He didn’t… uhm, is he always… like that?” Lance asked carefully.

“You mean Joe? Well, he’s from Texas, so sometimes, he seems a bit strange but he’s a nice guy in general.” Keith answered, always keeping an eye on Lance’s movements. _He is nervous, I can tell… It would be easier, if I knew how to converse._

Keith and Lance worked together for a few hours. Lance even managed to coax a few laughers out of Keith. They realized, what Katie meant. Actually, their characters were pretty similar and compatible. Joe passed by as the shop closed, asking Keith about Lance’s abilities. Keith confirmed, that Lance was suited for the work they had to do. Joe asked Lance as well, if he deemed himself able to keep up with the work. Lance agreed with Keith, getting his contract from Joe.

\---

After ending his exhausting shift, Lance looked on the clock. “Shit, I need to get Emma!” he screeched, grabbing his backpack, as he ran off, completely forgetting Keith.

“Yeah, have a good evening as well. No problem for helping you, see you tomorrow as well.” Keith scoffed, as the other teen had disappeared without a word. _Typical… And here I thought he was actually a decent guy…_

Lance was running along the street, taking a shortcut to get home faster, as a hand grabbed him, pulling Lance into in abandoned building. “See what we have here, a rat on duty.” Lotor scoffed.

“W-What do you want from me?!” Lance hissed, backing away as good as he could manage. _What does he do here?! Shouldn’t he be at home?! Getting scolded or something?! Shit, I should call the police!_

“I told you already, didn’t I? I was a bit surprised, that you little snitch went to our principal. You should’ve known better than that.” Lotor laughed. _And you’ll regret it…_

“You have nothing to blackmail me with, so why should I obey you?!” Lance spat. _I need to be steady… don’t let him see your weaknesses…_

“Why?” Lotor repeated, grabbing Lance’s chin forcefully, as he held a phone in front of his face. “Can you see what is getting filmed here?” he asked, waiting for Lance’s reaction with a smirk. _This is so much more enjoyable than I thought~!_

“That’s… Keith?” Lance noticed. _Oh no… not good… this fucking bitch is involving third parties…_

“Exactly. That’s Keith, or more what he does right now. You know, it’s pretty interesting to watch, how you always stare at him, when he isn’t watching. Do you think he isn’t aware of your dirty looks? However, since this emo is somehow important to you, how would you feel, if you saw him getting raped right now~?” Lotor laughed.

“W-What?!” Lance gasped, panic fuelling his mind.

“That’s right. Some of my guys are around the store, ready to jump at your beloved one. Do you want that? It’s an easy choice, Lance. Either you’ll fuck with me or he’ll get fucked. The real question is, if you were able to accept the consequences. Even if you run to our principal again, even if you get bodyguards, it’s useless. At some point, someone is going to be careless and whoever you choose to protect, be it him or yourself, it’ll happen. You better accept your fate.” Lotor spoke. _Ahh, seeing the little ones fall apart is the best~!_

Lance’s eyes were locked on the screen. He knew from Shiro, that Keith got the way he was now, due rape. He knew that his own heart couldn’t take to see Keith getting attacked, nor did he want to see Shiro’s pained face. “O-Okay… Y-You’ll have to promise… leave him alone… He has nothing to do with this…” Lance sobbed. _I knew it... I knew this wouldn’t end... now, I even involved Keith…_

“As long as you behave, your little crush won’t be affected.” Lotor replied with a smug grin, throwing Lance on the ground. “And now strip.” he demanded. Lance did as he was told, tears welling up his eyes. “Come on, Lance, be positive~! You can watch your beloved one while I’ll fuck you senselessly.” Lotor laughed maniacally. _Despair… I can taste it in the air…_

Lance wasn’t sure how long Lotor enjoyed himself but he knew that it was late, when the sick guy came to an end. “I nearly forgot, here.” Lotor said, throwing a respectable amount of money at Lance. “As far as I know you are poor, so take it, even if you aren’t worth it. After all, I’m a nice guy. See you, Lance~!” Lotor chuckled, leaving the guy alone.

Lance grabbed the money, staring at it with blank eyes. If he wouldn’t know, how hard his family had it to survive, how urgent his sister and brother needed new clothes, he would’ve tossed the money away. He refused to take money from that shameless guy for rape but he knew, that he could help his family that way. “I wish I’d just die.” Lance sobbed, clothing himself, before he went home. _Just quietly dying…_

\---

“Lance!” two little kids called, running towards the front door, as it opened.

“Emma, Emilio, be quiet, or else father is going to hear you.” Lance whispered, hugging his siblings tightly. _I’d do anything to see those two smiling forever…_

“Can we sleep with you, big bro? Daddy is scary.” Emma begged.

“Of course, get your pyjamas and go to bed, I’ll take a shower first.” Lance said with a gentle smile.

“Thank you, big bro.” Emilio said, running the stairs up with Emma.

Lance took a shower to clean himself up and went into his bedroom. His siblings were already sleeping tight, feeling save in the room of their brother. Lance sighed and got clothed, hiding away the money, before he took a look into their rooms. It wasn’t really surprising, as he saw chaos. His father must have had rampaged again, since even the pictures on the wall were shattered. Lance removed the shards from the ground and tidied the rooms, before he went into his own. Normally, he kept it locked, when he wasn’t at home but refused to do so, since he knew his siblings sometimes used it as shelter. He crawled between them, cradling both of them in his arms, as his eyes felt shut. Lance was tired, in more than one way. Tired of getting hit, raped and yelled at. Despite that, he had to stay strong. He had to protect his siblings, his mother, his friends and now Keith as well. He felt the weight of his responsibilities pulling him down but he couldn’t falter. He decided to never surrender, in order to protect the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't remember, when this story became so fucking dark... I actually planed it as a bit more happy and fluffy (hurt/comfort) but well... It happened ^^"
> 
> Enjoy the angst~!


	3. Sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is getting sick and Keith is getting hints of his real life

“Big bro?” Emilio whispered, waking the exhausted teen in the middle of the night.

“Hmm?” Lance replied drowsily.

“Emma came home alone today, why?” Emilio asked concerned.

“I had my first day of work today, do you remember? I told you yesterday.” Lance said quietly.

“But I was scared! Walking without big bro is no fun.” Emma pouted.

“I know, I promise to get you tomorrow, deal?” Lance spoke softly, kissing her forehead. “You two are a bit smelly, didn’t you shower?” he added. _God, I’m so sorry for them… this is a horrible life, they don’t deserve this… They should play hide and seek in the garden… not hiding in the wardrobe, so they won’t get yelled at by their father…_

“No, daddy didn’t allow it.” Emilio answered.

“He was screaming big bro’s name all the time. Daddy was very angry.” Emma sobbed.

“There, there, don’t cry. I’m here. I’ll take care for you. Don’t be scared, I’ll protect you.” Lance said, pulling the kids closer. “Where is mom?” Lance asked after a while.

“Mommy is in the basement. Daddy was angry at mommy.” Emma sniffed.

“Lancey? Emma and mommy and Emilio don’t want to be with daddy anymore. Daddy is scary.” Emilio cried.

“Shh, I know, my little angels, I know. Soon, I’ll have enough money to rent us a place where he can’t reach us. Just be patient, we’ll get out of here.” Lance whispered, humming a calming melody. He waited until the siblings were asleep, before he looked at the clock and got ready for school. An hour later, he woke the kids as well. He showered them and gave them fresh clothing, while he washed the dirty laundry. After he had heard his father leaving, he went into the kitchen and made his siblings breakfast and gave them some lunch for later. Before he left, he tried to open the door to the basement with all his might but failed miserably.

“Mom?! Are you alright?!” Lance shouted, banging on the door. _This damn old man… being a dick, even to his own wife!_

“Watch out! Your father could be around!” a woman’s voice called.

“He is off to work! Do you know where the keys are?!” Lance asked, pulling violently on the doorknob. _Come on, open up!_

“I think he took them with him.” the woman replied weakly.

“Are you alright? What did he do to you?!” Lance asked, concern filling his voice. _I swear, one day, I’ll kill him!_

“I’m fine, Lance. Don’t worry. How are the siblings?! How are you?! Did he hurt anyone else?!” the woman urged her son.

“What do you mean, anyone else? Did he hurt you?!” Lance gasped. He never did that. Sure, he had hurt Lance multiple times and he had beaten the siblings twice but except for excessive yelling and destroying things, he had never seriously injured Lance’s mother.

“Answer my question, Lance.” his mother demanded.

“No, we are fine. Last night, he didn’t even recognise me coming home. Now tell me, did he hurt you?” Lance assured her.

“Just a bit, it’s nothing serious.” she admitted.

“Mommy is hurt?!” Emma screeched, tears welling up her eyes.

“I want to see mommy!” Emilio shrieked, tugging at Lance’s sleeves.

“I know, Lance wants to see mommy as well. Tonight, I’ll get mommy back, okay? When father is back, I’ll snatch the key from him.” Lance said.

“Lance, don’t! I don’t want you to get hurt even more! He’ll eventually let me go later. Don’t get yourself in danger.” his mother begged.

“No, mom! When was the last time you ate, drank or were on toilet? You need air as well! I’ll get you out of there.” Lance said, determination in his voice. If the basement door wouldn’t have been made of steel, he was sure he’d just tried to crash it down.

“Fine but promise me to not get hurt.” his mother sobbed.

“I’ll promise to keep the siblings out of it and I’ll try to be careful.” Lance said, since he knew he couldn’t promise her to not get hurt. He took the siblings by their hands and brought them to their kindergarten. On his way to school, he made a stop at a rather quiet café, entering it hastily. “Lance, long time no see!” the owner spoke but dropped his smile, when he saw Lance’s face. “Again?” he asked with a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Thace, may I use your bathroom again?” Lance asked excusing.

“Sure. I cleaned up a drawer for your stuff, so you don’t have to take everything with you.” Thace replied with a sad smile.

“I can’t accept that!” Lance gasped. _This guy is well too nice!_

“It’s sad enough you have to cover up your face all the time. Besides, no woman is going to annoy me, if your stuff is in the bathroom.” Thace smiled. _Poor boy…_

Lance knew Thace since forever. He was his babysitter when Lance was young and his father had still been a decent man. He opened a café near the schools, being pretty famous with the students, which he lovingly called ‘caffeine zombies’. He had found out about Lance’s circumstances at home and had often allowed him to sleepover or call him when things got worse. After the birth of his siblings, Lance hadn’t visited Thace that often, since he feared his father would take out his anger on them or his mother instead, if Lance would be gone. Thace had a bathroom for staff, which Lance was permitted to use whenever he liked. He went there to cover up his wounds, before he went to school. Thace had often tried to convince Lance to call the police but Lance was afraid of what would happen to his siblings and his mother, when he was taken away from his father. Thace also had a good connection to Lance’s mother and had often tried to convince her to come with her children to him but she had refused. She was too scared of possible happenings, if her husband found out.

Lance was putting some make-up on, smiling weakly, as his face looked nearly good again. “Guess that will work.” he sighed and hurried up to get to school on time.

“H-Hey Keith!” Lance said nervously, as he met him in the hallway. _Why does he always look so gorgeous?!_

“Hello mister I-leave-work-without-even-saying-goodbye-even-though-I-helped-you.” Keith replied, visibly pissed off.

“I’m really sorry, Keith, but I had to get my little sister, Emma, from the Kindergarten and I totally forgot, so I hurried up to get her.” Lance explained, looking onto the ground. _Shit, I totally forgot! After meeting Lotor on the streets and having forgotten about Emma… I could’ve at least told him…_

Hey Lance, how was work?” Hunk asked, and hugged him from behind.

“G-Good, I think.” Lance said, trying to oppress the scream of pain. _If Keith isn’t firing me after only the first day, that is…_

“Hey Lance, may I talk with you?” Shiro asked, making Lance jump slightly.

“S-Sure man.” he replied weakly. “What’s up?” he added, as they were far away from the others.

“I just wanted to make sure you are fine, I mean, a lot of stuff must go to your mind right now and I’d rather verify myself, that you are okay. After all, that must’ve been a huge shock for you.” Shiro explained.

“You really have those big brother vibes. Don’t worry, I’m fine! You made sure he’s getting banned from school, I found a job and I have a lot of new friends, things couldn’t have work out better for me!” Lance smiled. _Except the fact, that Lotor is threatening me with hurting Keith, if I’m not his whore, my father is going on rampage on a daily base, I must protect my siblings, to save my mother and be careful that nobody get’s wind of this… but if you count that out, things are really working out, I guess…_

“Then I’m glad, contact me if there is anything I can help with, got it?” Shiro smiled, ruffling through Lance’s hair.

Lance felt a sudden chill in his bones, as he met the toxic glare of Keith. “Uhm, could you call over Keith for a second? I want to apologise to him.” Lance asked timidly. _He won’t kill me, if Shiro is calling for him, right?_

“Keith? Why is that? Did you two have a fight?” Shiro asked.

“Not exactly but he showed me everything at the shop yesterday and I ran off earlier, because I had forgotten to do my duties at home. I didn’t even say goodbye or such and I think he’s a bit pissed.” Lance admitted.

“Oh, yeah, he can get a bit complicated about things like that. Just explain it to him, he’ll surely forgive you.” Shiro smiled, waving Keith over. “There you go.” he added, leaving.

“What is it? Why do you make Shiro calling me over?” Keith asked, clearly not amused.

“I wanted to apologise for yesterday and therefore, I’ll take the time I left earlier from your shift today, okay? I just started working there and I don’t want you or Joe to think, that I’m ungrateful or anything.” Lance said, blushing slightly.

“You don’t have to do that. Just don’t run off anymore, okay?” Keith sighed. _I don’t get this guy…_

“I promise, I won’t! And let me take the shift, I want to.” Lance begged. _Give me the chance to show you, that I really like you…_

Something inside of Keith was sending excitement through his body, as the honesty of the other reached his eyes. “Fine then.” Keith mumbled, as he turned away. Lance smiled and ran towards Allura, chatting about something with her. He looked over at Keith, smiling wholeheartedly. “Look at him, being happy about that, wagging his tail like a dog … this guy really is something…” Keith thought, a slight smile on his lips.

\---

As school had ended, Shiro had offered Lance to give him a ride to the shop, since he was bringing Keith there too. He had gladly accepted. When Lance changed his shirt in the staff room, he had the door to his locker open, making sure Keith couldn’t see him face, since he felt too embarrassed on one side and was scared on the other hand, since there was a chance, that Keith could see his bruises and such. Lance notices, that he could see through the little slots in the locker’s door, watching Keith while changing. He felt like a creep but couldn’t repress the urge to bite his lip, as he saw his crush’s well-built body.

“Are you finished? I’ll show you the work for today.” Keith asked, as he pulled his shirt over and headed towards the door.

“Yeah.” Lance said, feeling hot suddenly. His vision blurred for a moment, before he could follow Keith. _He is so damn hot… Am I a pervert for staring at him?_

Keith turned around, as Lance nearly threw a display over. “Were this stand up displays here the whole time?” Lance mumbled, holding his head.

“Lance, you put them up yourself yesterday, of course they were.” Keith said in irritation.

“Oh… Well, I’ll do the pallet over there, okay?” he said, using his cutter to open the film around the articles.

“Yeah, do that.” Keith agreed, eying him with suspicion. _Something is… off, I feel it…_

Keith’s suspicion grew even bigger, as Lance started to drop most of the items, which he was supposed to put into the racks. “I-I’m sorry.” Lance apologised, as he cleaned up the shards of the glass he had just broken.

“Seriously, how clumsy are you? This is the third one in less than a half hour.” Keith sighed, looking a bit angry at the puppy-eyed male. _Is he doing that on purpose? He looks like an abandoned child…_

“B-But there was a rat! I’m sure! I saw it!” Lance protested.

“Lance, here are no rats. I checked everything.” Keith sighed again, facepalming himself.

“B-But I… I’m sorry, I try to be more careful.” Lance excused himself, cleaning up again.

In the moment Keith had left the aisle, another crash made him look up. “What the hell? Can this guy do anything properly?” he sighed. “And again, Lance. What was it this time? The devil itself?” Keith mocked, until he saw his co-worker hanging on the rack, gasping for air. “L-Lance?!” he asked, pulling the guy up, groaning slightly, as the other landed on him with his full weight. “What the hell man- Oh my god, are you alright?! Lance you look terrible!” Keith stated, his eyes filled with concern.

“Wow, thanks Sherlock, it’s not like you told me that a hundred times already.” Lance breathed heavily.

“N-No, I mean like, really bad, like, not healthy bad. Why didn’t you say anything?! You should’ve told me you don’t feel well!” Keith scolded him, trying to pull Lance up with him.

“But I promised to take a part of your shift and I never break a promise.” Lance whispered.

Keith took a moment but decided to just carry Lance over to the staff room. There was a bed, where he laid him down. “You’re burning up, Lance. Just tell me the next time, you can take the part of my shift another day, it hasn’t to be today. Besides, that was your idea, I wouldn’t have cared, if you did not offer it.” Keith spoke. He saw how Lance was breaking out in a cold sweat and wrapped him up in his jacket, since there was no blanket.

“Your jacket will get sweaty.” Lance mumbled, his breath hitching.

Keith made him a wet cloth, which he placed on his forehead. “Just take a rest for a few minutes, I’ll come back and check on you. Don’t worry about the stupid jacket.” he stated, leaving the room. _This guy is troublesome…_

A half hour later, Lance did not look any better, so Keith called Hunk, who arrived just a few moments later.

“Oh lord, he looks terrible.” Hunk gasped.

“Yeah, I noticed how he behaved stranger than normally, so I kept an eye on him.” Keith said, feeling a bit guilty, how Lance had to lay on the hard and old bed, covered from Keith’s jacket. He was sweating bullets, breathing hardly.

“I’ll go and buy cold medicine; would you watch him till then?” Hunk asked.

“Yeah…” Keith replied, staring at the other guy. He made another wet cloth and placed it on Lance’s forehead. “Stupid idiot, going to work with a fever this high… What kind of thing is so important to you, that you do such reckless shit?” Keith grumbled.

“Kei…th?” Lance mumbled.

Keith gasped at the sign of those two bloodshot eyes staring at him. “Lance, you should rest. Do you want me to get you something?” Keith asked, slightly concerned.

“Ohh… It’s really you, huh? Haha, I’m so happy… this is the best dream ever...” Lance said with a laboured breathing.

Keith blushed, as the honest smile of the other reached his eyes. “Is there something I can do for you?” Keith repeated, his voice a bit softer than before.

“M-My siblings, I n-need to get them…” Lance panicked, nearly hyperventilating. _No… not again…_

“Woah, calm down! Just give me the number of your parents and I’ll tell them to get your siblings.” Keith said.

“N-No! You can’t do that! They’ll die! I promised! I-I promised Emilio…” Lance screamed. _No… No… I need to protect them… I must…_

“Lance, stop! Where are they? Which place? Tell me the address, I’ll get them and bring them home, okay?” Keith offered, not understanding why Lance was overreacting.

“N-No, they need to be with me…” Lance mumbled, trying to stand up.

“Okay, stop it! Then I’ll bring them here, okay?!” Keith said, a confused look on his face. _Jesus, what is his problem?! He will kill himself!_

“Y-You would do that?” Lance asked disbelieving. _Why would Keith do that?_

“If that’s what’s needed to give you peace at mind, I’ll do it, but you need to stop freaking out.” Keith answered. “Joe, please take an eye on him for a second, I’ll be right back.” Keith said into his phone, making the manager appear. “His friend will be in charge of him soon, please stay here for a second.” Keith asked him, as he was there.

“I gotcha.” Joe said, taking Keith’s place.

Keith took the address of the kindergarten and went for Lance’s siblings. As he was there, he realised that it wouldn’t be that easy to just go and get two completely stranger children.

“Uhm, hello, I’m here to get Emilio and… I think it was Emma? Yes, Emma.” Keith said, getting a confused look from the kindergarten teacher. _Great, she must think I’m some kind of kidnapper or freak… Why am I even getting them for him?! What crazy part in my mind was convinced this was a good idea?! How am I even supposed to handle them?! Are there things like leashes? Do you treat them like pets? What do I do, if they start crying?!_

“And you are who?” she asked, eying him with suspicion.

“Oh, right, sorry, I’m a classmate and colleague from Lance, he caught a pretty bad cold and freaked out, because he said he had promised his siblings to get them and didn’t want them to go home alone either, so I came to get them instead.” Keith explained. _Wow… totally does not sounds like I’m some sick pervert… god, I wanna die…_

“Do you have any proof, that you are connected to Lance? I’m truly sorry for my suspicion but you can’t just come here and take someone’s siblings home.” she said.

“Wait a second, I’ll call him.” Keith said, typing Joe’s number into his phone. “Hey Joe, can you give me Lance for a second? He needs to verify that I’m allowed to get his siblings.” Keith spoke, handing the phone to the teacher.

“Lance, dear? You sound terrible! Yes? Yes, I understand. I’m sorry, I was just concerned. Of course. Alright, get better soon.” the teacher said and hung up, calling for Lance’s siblings. “Emma, Emilio, this guy is Keith. Lance isn’t feeling well and had to rest at work, so he sent this guy to get you. He’ll bring you to Lance.” she explained to them.

They both eyed Keith with wide eyes. “Hello Keef!” Emma said. _Pretty boy!_

“It’s Keith.” Keith corrected him, not sure how to interact with kids.

“It’s Keeth!” Emilio scolded her, starting a bickering.

Keith stared at them, realising that there was a reason he never had interacted with children, he had no idea how to handle them. “Alright, let’s go, I bet you want to see Lance soon.” Keith stated, getting their attention. He had to smile at how happy they got, as he mentioned Lance. They seem to be really fond of him, how adorable…

Emma reached out with her hand, confusing Keith. The kindergarten teacher laughed, slowly guiding Keith’s hand in Emma’s direction. “She wants to hold hands.” she whispered, getting an unsure ‘thanks’ from Keith.

“Then, goodbye.” Keith said, taking the backpacks of them, as he left the building. He felt conflicted, walking around with two little kids. He decided, that it would be faster to walk at his pace, picking them up, as he ran through the streets. They were giggling and laughing, as Keith arrived back at the store. “Your brother is in the back, I’ll bring you there.” Keith mumbled.

“Keef has cool hair! So fluffy!” Emma said, slowly touching it.

“Uhm, thanks, I guess.” Keith snorted.

“Keeth is cool, just like big bro! Walkin’ with Keeth is fun too!” Emilio agreed.

“Seems like they like you a lot.” Hunk stated, as Keith arrived.

“Uhm, I don’t know, I’m not good with kids.” Keith admitted, sitting them down onto Lance’s bed. _At least they haven’t complained…_

“Really? They seem to like you, though. Anyways, I gave him the medicine, he should get better soon. Just call me when he’s able to walk, I’ll bring him home.” Hunk said, leaving them alone.

“You are an angel. I owe you one.” Lance smiled weakly, kissing Keith’s hand thankfully. _God, was that too obvious?_

Keith blushed slightly at the action, mumbling something. “No problem.” he spoke.

“Is Keef Lance’s boyfriend?” Emma gasped.

“I won’s share big bro!” Emilio said, wrapping his little arms protectively around Lance.

“Don’t worry, he won’t take me away, nobody would do that on their free will.” Lance said. _As if Keith could ever love me… Not even in my dreams I’d dare to think that he could love me, no chance…_

Keith could see how he smiled but there was pain written all over Lance’s face, like he thought of himself as worthless. “I need to work, get better soon.” Keith said with a blush, as he pressed a kiss to Lance’s forehead.

Lance blushed slightly as well, not really understanding, why Keith had done that.

“Emma wants too!” the little girl laughed, wrapping her arms around Keith’s neck.

Searching for help, he looked at Lance. “Just do as she asks, she’s a stubborn little shit, when she wants a kiss.” Lance chuckled weakly. _This was cute… must be my mind playing tricks on me…_

“Alright.” Keith replied unsure, taking the head of the little girl carefully, as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

Emma smiled and looked at him with bright eyes. “Seems like someone is in love with you, Keith~” Lance chuckled, as he saw the reaction of his little sister. _I can understand why, Emma, I’ve fallen for those charms too… Speaking of it, he’s good with kids…_

“I wanna marry Keef!” Emma stated, making the black-haired teen blush even more.

“No, Lance will marry Keeth! Keeth is Lance’s boyfriend!” Emilio said to his sister.

“He isn’t my boyfriend.” Lance corrected them with a sigh, a bit glad that he could blame the red cheeks on his fever.

“But Keeth kissed you.” Emilio argued.

“I… uhm… I have enough love for everyone? Yes, I like everyone. We can all be friends.” Keith stated unsure, ruffling through the little boy’s hair.

“I’m sorry, they are always a bit annoying when they meet someone new.” Lance coughed, sweating bullets.

“How am I supposed to leave you like that?” Keith asked, renewing the wet cloth, before he sat down, deep in thoughts. “How about you go home for today? I’ll take your shift and bring you home, so you can rest. There’s no way you’ll stay here like that. Your siblings must be hungry too.” Keith offered. _Right now, he is like a little child himself but tries to be strong for his siblings anyway… that’s actually a pretty strong character he has there…_

“Keef is right, we need to go home and free mommy!” Emma remembered, breaking out in tears.

“Freeing?” Keith asked, as he frowned, when Lance was shutting his siblings down. _Freeing? They will die? What the hell is he hiding?_

“We will free mommy from her duty, she won’t do the whole household alone.” Lance replied as casual as possible. “But you will sleep at uncle Thace’s place today.” Lance added, smiling weakly.

“But without big bro it’s no fun.” Emma sobbed.

Keith went ahead and made a call. It was already late and the store wouldn’t have that many customers either. He closed the shop, making sure that Joe knew, that he’d make up for it. Just now, he somehow couldn’t leave Lance alone. “Come on, I’ll bring you to… wherever you have to go.” Keith said, helping Lance to stand up.

“I’ll make a call.” Lance mumbled weakly. “Hey, Thace? Uhm, would you do me a favour and take the siblings in for tonight? I… I still have some… business to do.” Lance said, giving the word ‘business’ a heavy undertone.

Keith eyed him with a studying look, founding it suspicious, how scared and worried Lance’s siblings looked.

“Got it, I’ll wait for you in front of the store.” Lance said, hanging up.

“Big bro won’t come with us?” Emma asked, seemingly sad.

“No, I’ll go home. But you can be happy, as far as I know, Thace is making pancakes for breakfast! You love those, right?” Lance said, a bit sorry for his siblings. He never wanted them to know what those words mean and yet, they had seen enough of their aggressive father to know, that Lance was going back to get hurt, that he tried to save them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote quite a big chapter, so I made two out of it, you can expect the second half tomorrow \^_^/
> 
> I hope you enjoy my story and that you'll have a good day! (Me: Updates at 7 in the morning, thinks it's totally normal. Also me: wonders why they are so sleep deprived *facepalm*)


	4. You know each other?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance have a unkown connection

As Thace arrived, Keith was surprised. “Long time no see, how are you, Keith?” Thace asked. _So, Keith works here? I thought he was helping out at Shiro’s biking store…_

“Uhm, I’m good, it really has been a while.” Keith admitted. _Wow, when was the last time I’ve seen Thace? Must’ve been months…_

“You two know each other?” Lance asked, feeling weaker.

“Yeah, he’s a good friend of Shiro, those two were in the same football club.” Keith explained. _They were quite good, it was really a shame that they stopped playing…_

“How nice… I bet you two were the stars of your team.” Lance smiled weakly. _Two good-looking guys… The girls must’ve been crazy about them…_

“Well, we were, at some point.” Thace chuckled, as he belted on the kids. “What about you? Can I bring you somewhere?” Thace asked Keith.

“No, Shiro will get me after my shift. I’ll bring Lance home first.” Keith said, noticing how a special look was directed at Lance. _What is that? Something is off with his home… He doesn’t want me to call his parents, he doesn’t want me to bring his siblings there and denies me bringing him there as well… Is he maybe hiding something?_

“No, you won’t. Thace, could you bring him home as well?” Lance asked. _I can’t let Keith get involved with my ‘family’ as well, it’s bad enough that Lotor is after him…_

“I’d prefer that both of you get in and I’ll bring all of you home. You neither sound good, nor do you look good right now. A handsome boy like you should take better care of himself.” Thace sighed, that undertone in his voice yet again. _Seriously… If I’ll ever get my hands on the man that did this to him… I can guarantee for nothing…_

“Okay.” Lance agreed after a while.

Keith helped Lance to get in the back, following Thace’s suggestion. “Alright Keith, I’ll drop you off first.” Thace said, as he started the engine.

\---

As Keith got off the car, he could hear loud whining from the back. He opened the backdoor, looking at Emma’s face. Her lip was quivering, and tears streamed down her cheek. “Keef not leaving!” Emma sobbed.

“Keeth staying with us!” Emilio added, sniffing sadly.

“Uhm, I’m sorry but I’ll have to go home. I’m sure we’ll see us again, thought. Maybe I’ll visit you guys sometimes?” Keith spoke, unsure what to say. _Lance doesn’t seem angry… he rather looks… sad?_

“P-Pinkie promise?” Emma sobbed.

“Yes, I promise.” Keith smiled, kissing her forehead. He ruffled through Emilio’s hair, giving him a confident nod. “And I hope you get well soon, Lance.” he added, as he closed the door. “Thanks for driving me, Thace!” he said, as he looked through the open window.

“No problem! Greet your brother from me!” Thace said, as he drove off.

The first two minutes, the whole car was silent. “He looks like he’s totally your type.” Thace laughed.

“Come on, don’t tease me.” Lance groaned. _Is it that obvious?! I mean, how could Keith not be anyone’s type?! He’s hot and cute and could kill you and is a complete turn-on!_

“I’m not wrong, though. I knew Keith when he was younger, and he was cute, but now he looks rather… hot? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t swing that way but that gay side inside of you must be dying for him.” Thace mused with a smirk. _They’d be a cute couple, to be honest…_

“T-Thace! The kids are present!” Lance gasped. _Come on, just shut up!_

“Oh, really? So, you don’t want them to know? Let me check that. Hey Emma, Emilio, what is Keith to Lance?” Thace asked. _Pretty please, don’t disappoint me now…_

“Keeth is big bro’s wife.” Emilio stated proudly.

“And Emma’s prince!” Emma added with a bright smile.

“G-Guys! How can you betray me like that?!” Lance whined. _Getting ratted out by my own siblings, despite them not knowing it exactly… This is so not okay…_

“Looks like I’m not that wrong, huh? You know, Keith is basically a good guy, so I’m positive things will work out for you.” Thace spoke calmly. Lance blushed and stayed silent. As they arrived at the house, Thace turned around. “Sure, you want to go in?” he asked.

“Yeah, I have to. If it’s okay for you, I’ll soon bring my mother over as well, just for a while. This needs to stop.” Lance spoke. _And it will…_

“Of course, you can stay as long as you need to. You guys are like my second family, whenever you need me, I’ll be there.” Thace smiled. _I mean it, I love you guys…_

“I really don’t understand, how a guy like you has no wife. I mean, you are a dream of a man.” Lance laughed and kissed his siblings’ goodbye.

“Well, maybe the right woman will appear soon.” Thace smiled, pain written on his face, as he let the guy go. “And I hope you won’t have to endure that any longer... If your mother would just allow me to help…” Thace mumbled and drove off. The siblings were already fast asleep.

Lance entered his house, noticing how the lights were out. “Well then, welcome back in the lion’s den.” he said, as he realised that none of the lights was functional. Carefully, he shut the door, trying to find blindly his way to the basement. He still planed on getting his mother out, no matter the costs.

“I awaited you.” the dark voice of his father resounded, followed by a stinging pain in his head, as he fell, his vision getting black.

\---

As Lance came back to his senses, he saw his father, angrily shouting at a computer, which didn’t seem to work as he wished. He noticed, that his arms were bound together, so he tried as quiet as possible to loosen the knot. As he had succeeded, he grabbed the nearest thing he found: a glass bottle. Slowly, he stood up, taking a few steps forward. Determination was burning in his eyes. He wanted to take his father out, he needed to. As cruel as fate was, it decided at that time, to give him flashbacks of his early childhood, of the time, when he was still an honourable man. He remembered, how his father had taken a day off, just to go to the zoo with him. He remembered, how he had played with the siblings in the garden, purposely losing in hide and seek. Lance couldn’t help but to tear up. He couldn’t understand, what had happened. His life had gone downhill from one day to another. His father had started to reject him, the siblings and his own wife. He had started to drink, took his anger out on others. He had started to beat them, to hurt them. Despite the tears of sadness in Lance’s eyes, he lifted the bottle, ready to swing it at the man, who he didn’t see as his father anymore.

“Took you quite a moment.” the man said with a smirk, standing up. He had seen Lance’s reflection in the mirror, knowing that his son was too good at heart, to actually hurt him.

“Let my mother go!” Lance demanded, his grip tightening on the bottle.

“You are a bit of a delinquent, aren’t you? Speaking with that high and mighty tone with you own father?! I thought I taught you better than this. Seems like someone needs to get re-educated.” the crazy man smiled. He was about three heads taller than Lance, glaring down at the skinny teen.

“I am not scared of you! A person like you isn’t my father either and I won’t respect someone, who is punching their own wife and children!” Lance yelled, hearing the faint cries of his mother. As far as Lance could guess, she must’ve crawled up the stairs, leaning on the door. He hated when she was witnessing their fights, but on the other hand, he hoped, that she would maybe understand, that she had to leave that man. 

“You were always good at talking big, but you were never enough of a man to actually do something. You will respect me, I’ll make sure of that. Besides, anybody, who would have disgraces like you around, would beat them up.” he replied with a grin.

“The only disgrace around here is you.” Lance spat through gritted teethes.

“Then bring it on. Hit me, if you dare.” his father provoked him.

Lance hesitated a moment and that was his mistake. The drunken man hit him first, earning a loud scream from his wife, as she heard a bottle’s shattering, followed by a groan from Lance.

“As weak as ever.” the man laughed, punching Lance as hard as he could. “First, where are my kids?! Where did you bring those two worthless sandsacks?! Tell me, immediately!” he yelled.

“As if I’d tell you, go to hell!” Lance screamed, kicking his father violently, as he was thrown on the ground. The tanned teen was helplessly trying to push the man off, blinded by his own blood, which dripped from his head. In his despair, he grabbed another thing, which was near to him. With an aggressive scream, he aimed and struck. With a grunt, his father fell, not able to move at all. Lance jumped up, his legs being like jelly. He saw the key, laying next to the drawer, which stood on the left of the computer. “Sleep well!” Lance screamed, kicking in his father’s face, knocking him out. He opened the door to the basement, pulling his mother up the stairs.

“¡Madre de Dios! My dear son!” she cried, weakly touching the demolished face of her oldest child. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” she sobbed, hugging him tightly.

“It’s fine, mother, don’t freak out.” Lance smiled, knowing, how tired and fed up his mother was from watching. “Listen, you’ll go up and pack clothes for you and the siblings, I’ll watch him, got it?” Lance demanded, his voice nevertheless soft and caring.

“What are you planning? Where are the kids?” she asked, panicking slightly.

“I’ll tell you on the way, okay? Just gather some stuff for them and you. Please hurry, I’d rather be gone, before he wakes up again.” Lance told her.

“O-Okay!” she said, stumbling up the stairs.

“On the other hand, wait, I’ll help you.” Lance said, quickly dragging his father into the basement, before he locked the door. “That should give us a little time.” he mumbled, helping his mother up the stairs. “Just gather your stuff, I’ll take care of the siblings. You shouldn’t move too much, since you’re probably weak.” he smiled, kissing his mother’s forehead.

“You are a really good guy, Lance.” she sobbed, smiling back at him.

Lance went into his room, getting a huge suitcase, which he had originally used, when he was about to visit his family in Spain. He took the money he had gotten from Lotor, bundling it up, as he threw it to some clothes from his siblings. He also packed their favourite toys, books and blankets in, to make sure they’d be missing nothing. He ran downstairs, grabbing the key of his father’s car. He drove a red Pickup, which looked rather good. He ran back up the stairs, fetching the suitcases as he grabbed his mother by her arm.

“Come on, I’ll bring you to a save place. Beforehand, please give me your phone.” Lance asked.

“My phone, why?” she asked.

“Because he will obviously call you, mom. I don’t want you to reveal your position, because you’re scared. I also talked with the woman from the kindergarten, father won’t be able to get the twins anymore.” Lance assured her, as the woman handed over her phone. He drove her to Thace’s place, smiling weakly. “Get well soon.” he said.

“What about you, Lance? Where are you going?” she asked.

“I’ll stay at home and will make sure, he doesn’t call the police and talks shit, until the stuff with the siblings is ruled.” Lance told her.

“Lance no! I forbid you to go back! That guy could kill you!” his mother scolded him.

“There is no other choice, mom. I’ll come back every morning, like I did before and will say hello to you and the kids, okay? I’ll be careful.” Lance said, as he rang the doorbell, waiting for Thace to open up. He immediately took care of Lance’s mother and made sure she ate and drank.

\---

The next morning, the teens were gathering in front of the school, being happy that their first periods were cancelled.

“Lance isn’t here?” Allura wondered.

“He was in a pretty bad shape yesterday, Keith sent me a message, that Thace drove him home.” Hunk said.

“Who is Thace?” Katie asked.

“Keith said that he’s a friend of Shiro, but I know, that he’s also a friend of Lance’s family.” Hunk replied.

“Keith, there you are.” Katie said, approaching her friend.

“What is it?” Keith asked.

“Keith! Have you seen Lance?! It’s urgent!” Allura asked, already tearing up.

“I can’t understand you, if you keep your hands in front of your face.” Keith sighed.

“That’s the problem! I need Lance now! Hunk said he’s the best person for that kind of problems!” she cried.

“Well, I guess he’s staying at home, judging by what he looked like yesterday. Do you know where Shiro went?” Keith asked.

“N-No, I don’t know. God, this is a catastrophe!” Allura sobbed.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure Lance will come. He never skipped a day, no matter how ill he was.” Hunk tried to comfort her.

A few minutes later, Lance arrived, looking rather terrible. He had freed his father from the basement and made sure to hide the key, so no-one would end up there anymore. Adding up to all his spite, Lotor had seized him, not to mention how poorly Lance had been handled. Despite that, he kept quiet, a weak, apologising smile on his face, as he waved his friends.

“I don’t know what happened but come here. You know scientists confirmed that cuddling with your best friend helps you to actually feel better.” Allura said with a smile, embracing the teen lovingly.

“I just got ill, that’s all.” Lance laughed. “But looking at you, I think need a hug.” he added.

“Some asshole splashed water at my face and now my make-up is all ruined! I’ll have a job interview today!” she sighed.

“Bring me the make-up, I’ll rule it.” Lance decided, making Allura’s make-up looking great again in no time.

“Congratulations, beauty princess! Would be nice if you could do a shift of yours as smoothly as your beauty care.” Keith remarked dryly, walking away. He couldn’t really tell, why he was angry. Maybe because Lance came to school while still being ill or maybe, because he was still irritated with the information from the day before, he didn’t know. He also ignored the hurt look at Lance’s face, as he walked away.

 Hunk walked right into Keith. “The reason Lance is so good with beauty products is, that he had to learn how to put on make-up, after the years of abuse he had to experience through his father.” Hunk remarked dryly, causing Keith to tremble.

“What the fuck?” he asked, turning around in disbelief.

“Lance isn’t just the happy and loving guy you think. He has to handle almost as much shit as you.” Hunk huffed, bumping into Keith’s shoulder on purpose. “Just stay the fuck away, if your only intention is to hurt him. Otherwise, I’ll get really angry.” he added with a glare.

Keith was speechless. Neither did he expected Hunk to get angry, nor could he believe what Lance had to endure at home. “So that’s the reason he’s like this…” Keith mumbled, watching the teen from afar. “Actually, he’s really brave…” Keith admitted, even more confused than before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm soooo sorry guys! Some personal stuff came up and I had to rule it first, but don't worry, everything is fine now, so here is your promised update! I hope you can forgive me!
> 
> Please enjoy your belated chapter!


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